Grace, Please let me tell you a little TRUE STORY
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The last time I was as excited about a stock as I am Go2Net (dot com) was about 15 years ago. And yes Danny (wherever you are), this IS "one pumped-up investor."
At that time a little local privately owned start-up company was just beginning to get some good publicity in our newspapers.
I had never invested in the stock market before, feeling much more comfortable in real estate, as I was always told by my elders that "that's where people make the real money."
For the next approx. year or two I closely followed the stories on this company, and realized that something big was about to happen. In 1986, the company finally announced that they were going to go public. There was much local anticipation when, about 13 years ago, the company finally had what I guess they now call an IPO (Intial Public Offering).
If you knew a good stock broker back then (at least locally) you could have reserved a purchase of some stock pre-market of the IPO at about $20/share (can't remember the exact price, but I believe that's pretty darn close). It came on the market for just a dollar or two more than that, if my memory serves me.
Several years later at the end of (my first) stockholder's meeting for that company, during the "question and answer period" (usually the only really interesting part of those meetings), and after many people asked some very technical and profit-oriented questions way over my head, I stood up and asked the following question (I always asked sort of "different" questions at those types of meetings),
"Most of us stockholder's here in the room today have not only invested in this company, but we use it's products, and find them outstanding, with terrific technical support from the company. Thank you for that. You've done wonderful things with 'words' and 'numbers.' But what plans, if any, do you have for us 'right-brained' people? (I went on to list several "right-brained' type software programs such as drawing, paint, page layout, multi-media, and CADD)."
After looking down the Board of Directors table sort of futilely, the CEO got up and attempted to answer my question. He sort of hemmed and hawed, saying something about their plans to put a few 'drawing tools' being included in the next release of one of their products, and that other companies are already doing most of those things anyway.
At the end of the stockholder's meeting the Board of Directors sort of wandered down off the stage, and I noticed the CEO just standing over at the bottom of the stairs by himself, so I just walked up and started talking to him. At the time I had a rather urgent question which I wanted to ask him, but was sort of 'off topic' (OT) for the general meeting.
I had recently purchased my first computer, and my first software purchase was a CADD program from France. It cost me something like $4,500 for just 3 darn little 'floppy disks.' I had heard rumors that the CEO had recently bought the entire company. And, as the technical support for software was about as close to zero as you can get (the manual was 800 pages long, originally written in the Farsi (Persian) language, translated into French, and then translated into English, WITH NO SPELL CHECKER).
Anyway, it turned out that some of the architects who were working on the company's site doing the plans for new additions had purchased just a 'copy' of the French program, using it to create 3D models in color that could cast sunlight through the windows, and then producing videos which were projected on huge 20ft. screens to show the project managers their design proposals for the additions to the company.
Needless to say, I was very disappointed that the CEO had not bought the software company of which I had just invested a small fortune (at least for me at the time) for three friggin damn little floppy disks things.
But the CEO and I ended up talking like a couple of enthusiastic kids for about 15 minutes, about various types of CADD programs. I couldn't believe he knew so much about them. It was the best part of the meeting for me.
Shortly thereafter, that CEO founded a new little "right-brained" company called Corbis I believe. Buying up the digital reproduction rights for some of the finest artwork from art galleries all over the world. He never even offered me a "finder's fee" for helping to put the spark of that idea in his head (at least that's what I always told my friends).
That CEO's name was Bill Gates.
The name of the guy sitting next to him up on the Board of Directors meeting that day was Paul Allen.
Well, to make a long story longer. . .
If a person had invested just $10,000 in that little local start-up (MSFT) in 1986 (just 13 years ago), at the IPO of $20/share you would have gotten 500 shares.
Today (after only 8 stocks splits, two being only 3:2), a person would now have (by my calculations, anybody can correct me) 72,000 shares worth (at today's close on 6/30/99), $6,494,500. Not too bad for a $10,000 investment just 13 years ago. And not too bad for a couple of guys who went to Lakeside High School (heck, I learned to pole vault on the Lakeside track from great the Brian Sternberg).
Well, since that experience I try to only invest in stuff I feel I know a little something about, especially local "home-grown" companies. I have watched the local news for years, and for the first time since MSFT's IPO, I started to get "that same old feeling" about GNET. That "something BIG is about to happen." It's just a feeling I get in my gut. I could be completely wrong, but after today's close even my relatives are starting to believe me.
Heck, the best Microsoft could initially come up with was MS DOS (with much thanks to Paul Allen, if you saw the recent cable TV movie "The Pirates of Silicon Valley"). Go2Net is going after all of cyberspace!
And one of the founders of MSFT decided he was so impressed by what Russell & Company were creating, he offered to buy controlling interest in the whole damn thing. And, as Mark Haines (BLUE SNOWSHOE and my favorite TV personality) said during his interview last March with GNET's CEO Russell Horowitz on CNBC,
"Paul Allen is a pretty smart guy."
So yeah Grace.
I'm long on Go2Net.
Someday I'll give you my "guesstimate" of what I feel $10,000 invested in GNET today will be worth in just 10 years. I suppose most people won't give it much notice (especially the "short" ones), but I already had my 15 minutes of fame with the world's richest man.
I think it's time Bill's company's co-founder to give him a run for his money. And I hope Paul joins us all on the beach in Hawaii!!!
As Russell said in my favorite quote of his about Allen,
"We feel a real obligation to make sure it's the second-best investment he makes."
Heck Russ,
why not go for the "BEST" investment he ever makes!!!
With a little help from Paul and his "wired (or wireless) world,
you and your incredible team have all of cyberspace to play with.
Cool, Huh!
Later,
Roger (#49)
PS. As my brother said, "Just keep your posts short!"
I promise I'll try my best in the future, but once the wave starts rolling, it's sure hard to stop. |
